Every day, Doug Owen gets a front-row seat to the lively streets of East Nashville from the window of his home office. As an independent contractor working remotely, he often watches neighbors stroll by, especially their dogs. One day, while watching the parade of wagging tails, a thought struck him: “They deserve a treat.”

Although Owen doesn’t own a dog, he decided to find a way to give back to the four-legged companions who brighten his day. He stumbled upon the perfect solution while searching online: a vintage gumball machine. For $80, he purchased it, imagining it filled not with candy, but with dog treats.

It just came out of nowhere,” Owen said of his idea. “I don’t have a dog, and I don’t want a dog, but I enjoy watching people walking their dogs. And now they can give them a treat.”

Owen transformed the gumball machine into a free dog treat dispenser and strapped it to a wooden post outside his house. “All you’ve got to do is turn the handle,” he explained. “The dog treats are free because we know dogs don’t carry cash.” About four tiny treats tumble out with each twist of the dial, and within days of setting it up, the neighborhood dogs had already caught on.

Doug Owen turned an old gumball machine into a dog treat dispenser, and set it up in front of his home in an East Nashville neighborhood. Photo by Cooper Owen

He even gave the dispenser a playful name: “Doug’s Dog Delights,” complete with a sign to let passersby know. What started as a small gesture has since grown into a local sensation. “It’s a pretty cool thing to have,” said Chad Crawford, a nearby neighbor whose two rescue dogs, Penny and Sugar, are big fans of the dispenser.

Though Crawford has lived around the corner for years, he hadn’t met Owen until he installed the gumball machine. Now, their dogs stop by regularly for a treat, and the two men have become friends.

Part of Owen’s motivation for setting up the dispenser was to foster connections within his community. “I’ve done a lot of driveway talking in the last couple months,” Owen said. Whenever he spots a neighbor stopping for a treat, he often heads outside to introduce himself. “They tell me their name and their dog’s name,” he said.

Rhett enjoys a treat on one of his recent neighborhood walks. Photo courtesy of McKenna McFadden

For Owen, who doesn’t currently have a dog, this is his way of staying connected. “It gets people talking,” he said, noting that working remotely can sometimes feel isolating. The treat dispenser has given him an opportunity to socialize with both people and pets alike.

Though he hasn’t had a dog in about 15 years, Owen is happy to enjoy the company of his neighbors’ dogs instead. “There’s a dog there probably every 10 minutes,” he said. “Whatever problem or troubles you have, it lowers the blood pressure and your worries are a little less.” Now, it seems the dogs have made the treat machine a permanent part of their daily walks. Owen often sees dogs sprint toward it, stop in front of it, and patiently wait for their treat.

They’re pulling the owners toward it,” he said. “It’s now a magnet.”

Kevin Patterson, another neighbor, said his two dogs, Lucy and Greta, are always excited to approach the gumball machine. “My dogs have gotten to know when they’re close by and they get pretty excited,” Patterson said. “We talk to other dog owners as we walk by, so it’s been pretty cool that way.”

What began as a simple idea has blossomed into something much bigger than Owen expected. After a local news station featured his dog treat dispenser, Owen said he was “blown away” by the attention. He’s even started restocking the machine with more boxes of treats and has no plans to stop. “I don’t want dogs mad at me,” he joked.

Sources: News Channel 5 | The Washington Post